xi, 467 pages : 24 cm

From the Publisher: This accessible introduction surveys the land and peoples who gave us the Labyrinth, the Acropolis, the Iliad and Odyssey, Herodotus and Thucydides, Sappho and Sophocles, Aphrodite and Aristotle, and so much more. Using the full range of resources of art history, archaeology, and philology, this book details the familiar-mythic heroes and heroines, famous philosophers and poets, as well as classical art and architecture-and introduces the less-well-known aspects of ancient Greece, notably the civilizations of the Bronze and Dark Ages and even the earliest form of written Greek-Linear B. In addition, Stephanie Lynn Budin offers a full history of how the study of classical Greece has evolved from ancient times through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present day. She covers ongoing questions and new directions in Greek studies, including Minoan religion, the role of women in early Greek cultures, the historical accuracy of Homer and Herodotus, and the role of Greece amongst its non-Greek neighbors. The Ancient Greeks includes a rich collection of illustrations, drawings, maps, and photographs, including detailed renderings of Knossos, the evolution of Greek sculpture and pottery, and even a section on ancient weaponry. The result is a superb companion for both newcomers and long-time Hellenophiles, revealing not only what we know about ancient Greece but how we know it and how these cultures continue to influence us

Originally published: Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, ©2004

Includes bibliographical references (pages 441-449) and index

Preface and acknowledgments -- Part 1: Introduction -- 1: Introduction -- What did the Greeks contribute to modern society? -- Further studies -- Part 2: Greek Civilization -- 2: Location Of Greek Civilization And Environmental Setting -- Greek mainland -- Crete -- Cyclades -- Asia minor's west coast -- Cyprus -- 3: Historical And Chronological Setting -- History of Greek studies -- Sources for the study of Greek history -- Chronology -- 4: Origins, Growth, And Decline Of Greek Civilization -- Crete -- Mainland -- Dark Age -- Eighth-century renaissance and the Archaic Age -- Classical period-from the Persian Invasions to the death of Alexander -- Rise and fall of the Hellenistic kingdoms: 323-30 BCE -- 5: Economics -- Palace economies of the Aegean Bronze Age -- Trade in the late Bronze Age -- Dark Age -- Early Emporia -- Archaic and classical Greece -- 6: Social Organization And Social Structure -- Divisions -- Unions -- Groups -- 7: Politics -- Minoan Crete: Kings? Queens? Priestesses? Priests? -- Bronze Age Greece -- Dark Age and "epic" kingship -- Archaic Age: synoecism, aristocracy, and tyranny -- Forms of rule in the classical period: oligarchy and democracy -- Politics beyond the polis -- Alexander and the Hellenistic monarchies -- Ancient Greek law -- 8: Religion And Ideology -- Minoan religion -- Mycenaean religion -- Greek religion in the historical periods -- 9: Material Culture -- Architecture -- Sculpture -- Pottery -- Clothing -- Arms and armor -- Art of death -- 10: Intellectual Accomplishments -- Literature -- Science -- Philosophy -- Part 3: Current Assessments -- 11: Major Controversies And Future Directions In The Study Of Greek Civilization -- Excavation -- Linear A -- Minoan deities -- Early Dark Age -- Non-Athenian anything -- Foreign relations -- Women in ancient Greece -- Glossary -- Chronology -- Resources for further study -- Index -- About the author

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